Benoni colvin and john



(ModeL) V B. GOLVIN & J. WOLFLEY.

' SPRING HINGE. No. 875,803. Patented Jan. 3, 1888.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR nloLilhogmpher. Washinglon D C ATTORNEY 3 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENONI COLVIN AND JOHN \VOLFLEY, OF FREEPOR'I, ILLINOIS; SAID' WOLFLEYASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESN E ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE LUOE ADJUSTABLESPRING HINGE COMPANY, OF PORT \VASHING- TON, \VISOONSIN.

SPRING-HINGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 375,803, dated January3, 1888.

ihl'odel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, BENoNr GoLvIN and JOHN W OLFLEY, residents ofFreeport, in the county of Stephenson and State of Illinois,haveinvcnted certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Hinges; andwe do hereby dc clare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which itper' t ains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in spring-hinges, and is fullydescribed and explained in the following specification and shown in theaccompanying drawings, in WhlCl1- Figure 1 is a plan of a completehinge. Fig. 2 is an end view of the leaves of the hinge, looking in thedirection indicated by the arrow a, Fig. 1, the ratchet-wheel 2 and pawlH being shown in their respective positions, and the pintle L beingremoved; Fig. 3, an external end view of the leaf B, looking in thedirection indicated by the arrow at, Fig. 1, the spring-retaining capllLwith its lugs P S, being in place thereon; Fig. 4, an internal andFig. 5 an external elevation of the spring-cap I; Fig. 6, a top edgeview; Fig. 7, an external elevation, and Fig. 8 an internal elevation,of the cap M shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 9, a plan, and Fig. 10 a transversesection, of the fluted pintle L, the tip E being removed.

In these views, A B are the leaves of the surface form of our improvedhinge, the ears 0 O of the leaf A being outside of the ears D N of theleaf B, thus making the hinge either right or left hand. Through each ofthe ears OD is a central circular pintle-opening, as shown in Fig. 2,and on the inner face of the ear 0 is an inwardlyprojecting cylindricalgudgcon or pintle of such length as to pass through the ear N andproject beyond the inner face thereof, the ear N being formed with aradial slot extending from the center to the circumference.

Against the inner face of the ear N rests a spring-retaining cap, M,having acentral hole, a, which rests on the pintle or gudgeon of the ear0, and two projecting lugs, P S, one of which lies in the radial slot ofthe ear N, while the other impinges on the edge of said ear. The cap Mis thus connected with the ear N at three point'sone in the center andtwo at the circu m ference-and is thusguarded effectually againstrotation with reference to the car -N and leaf B. Onthe inner face ofthecap M is an annular flange, W', concentric with the opening a, andadapted to receive the end coil of a spring, Z, of ordinary form, theendofthe coil being held against rotation on the flange WV by means of alug, U, on the face of the cap. (See Fig. 8.) v

Against the inner face of the ear D rests a second spring-cap, I, whoseouter surface is a plane, permitting free rotation of the cap withreference to the ear D, while its inner face is provided with an annularflange, K, and alug, U, corresponding in position and function to theparts W U of the cap M. In the center of the cap I is a non-circularhole, V, of any desired form, and through the ears 0 D and the hole Vpasses a pintle, L, whose body is of a cross-section corresponding tothe form of the hole V. The inner end of the pintle L rests in the spacewithin the annular flange WV of the cap M,while its outer end isprovided with a thumb-piece, E, by means of which it may be readilyrotated. That portion of the pintle which lies in the ears O D (beingthe part lettered o in Fig. 9) is preferably cylindrical, and outside ofthe cylindrical part c is a short section, b, of any non-circularcrosssection. On the part b is a detachable ratchetwheel, Q, having acentral hole conforming to the part of the pintle on which it rests, anda pawl, H, pivoted on a pin, G, on the leaf A, co-operateswith theratchet-wheel to hold the pintle against rotation whenever desired.

The operation of this device is evident. The leaves AB being placed inposition for connection, the caps M I are placed on the ends of thespring Z,and the caps and spring are then set in their proper placesbetween the ears D N. The ratchet-wheel Q is then placedin positionagainst the outer face of the ear 0, and the pintle L is passed throughthe ratchetwheel and the ears 0 D, its end entering the the spring.

socket in the inner face of the cap M, the part b of the pintle lying inthe ratchet-wheel, and the part a being in the ears 0 D. The cap Mconnects one endlof the spring Z with the ear N 1n such a way that theend of thespring cannot be rotated with reference to said ear, and theother end of the spring is so connected with the cap I that the rotationof said cap twists If the pintle L, the ratchetwheel Q, and the capl berotated in the direction indicated by the arrow on the cap in Fig. 1 andby the arrow on the ratchet-wheel in Fig. 2, the spring is coiledcloser, and the reaction tends to hold the leaves A B in the positionshown 111 Fig. 2. The pintle maybe turned sufficiently to put anydesired tension on the spring, and may then be secured by means of thepawl H. After tension is put on the spr ng, the hinge operates as anyother single actlng spring-hinge, and when it is desired to separate itthe operation is just the reverse of that described for putting itsparts to gether.

The hinge above described is in many respects the same as that shown inour patent,

No. 318,418, of May 19, 1885. In the hinge shown herein the pintle L'islonger than the corresponding part shown in the patent, and this addedlength gives the end of the pintle a bearing in the cap M, whereas inthe form shown in the patent the end of the pintle was unsupported.Thespring-cap M is altogether different in form and method of connectionfrom the corresponding element in the hinge covered by the patent, andthe ratchet-wheel Q is made detachable in the present form of binge,while in the patented form the pintle and ratchet-wheel were cast in asingle piece. The detachable ratchet-wheel can be made much more perfectthan the same part east integrally with the pintle.

I aware that it has been proposed to pro vide one end of a spring-hingeleaf with an ear formed with an annular slot, and to combine with thesame a spring supporting cap lying in contact with the ear, and having alug adapted to enter said annular slot and to be adjusted therein forthe purpose of varying the tension of the spring. The annular slot insaid proposed structure is, however wholly outside of the axial openingin the ear, and is separated therefrom by a portion of the metal of theear, and the lug entering said slot is out of contact with thehinge-pintle and forms no part of the bearing thereof.

Having now described and explained our invention, what we claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination of the leaf B, provided with the ear N, formed with aradial slot whose inner end forms a portion of the axial pintlebearingof the ear, the spring-cap lVI,having on one face the lug P, adapted toenter the outer end of said radial slot and to complete saidpintle-bearing, and on its opposite face suitableprojections,substantially as described, for receiving and holding inplace the end of a coiled spring, the spring Z, whose end engages withsaid projections, and means, substantially as shown and described, forsupporting the opposite end of said spring.

2. The combination of the leafB, having the axially-bored ear D and theradially-slotted ear N, the leaf A, having the centrally-bored ear 0,and the ear 0, having on its inner face a gudgeon lying in the inner endOf the slot in the ear N, the cap M, resting on the inner end of saidgudgeon, the pintle L, passing through the cars 0 D and entering asocket in the cap M, the cap I, mounted on the pintle and rotatingtherewith, and the spring Z, supported by the caps M I, substantially asshown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the leaves A B, the cap M, connected rigidlywith the leaf B, and the pintle L, passing through and connecting saidleaves, of the cap I and ratchetwheel Q, both rotating with the pintlebut detachable therefrom, the spring Z, mounted between the caps I M andheld in place thereby, and the pawl H, cooperating with the ratchetwheelQ, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

BENONI OOLVIN. JOHN \VOLFLEY. \Vitnesses:

L. M. Gunmen, J. A. GRAIN.

